We are incredible grateful to @SpringfieldLiz for her video review of our Bonhoeffer briefcase. You can subscribe and watch all of her leather reviews by visiting this link.

Hello to any of you out there who enjoy reading reviews of exciting and unique leather products and receiving an honest and deep dive into a bag, it’s form and function, materials, overall usability and probably a lot more since I can’t seem to write a short review.

I am writing this after using the briefcase for about a month on a daily basis. I had been very intrigued by this bag from Heritage Leather since the first time I had a chance to see one in person. I write a lot of reviews of leather products and know David, one of the owners of Heritage Leather personally, but, as always, I am transparent with the fact that this briefcase was provided by Heritage Leather for the purpose of reviewing but with no strings attached with regards to my opinions and conclusions.

With that out of the way, let’s take a look at the Bonhoeffer Briefcase from Heritage Leather.

I’ll start this off by being very honest. I own a lot of leather bags but a majority of my collection is from one manufacturer. It’s always exciting for me to review a product from a different manufacturer and seeing the ideas of other visionaries. It’s briefcases like this that have made me realize that there are some really great companies and designs out there that deserve a good look if you’re looking for a new briefcase. The Bonhoeffer is a prime example of this and I have been extremely impressed with this having been my every day carry since receiving it including an 11 day, 4,000 mile road trip.

The Bonhoeffer is the first product offering from Heritage Leather, but with the quality of the bag and the beautifully original design of it, that’s not a bad thing at all. I truly hope we will see more from Heritage as time goes along.

This bag is an absolute home run for my needs and I’d love to see what else the team at Heritage Leather can come up with in the future.

Here’s a sneak peak of my conclusions for those that don’t want to read all the details.

Heritage Leather has sourced leather from the same tanneries as Saddleback Leather Company, a larger well known leather company that is known particularly for the quality of leather they use. The bags from Heritage Leather are also made from the same maker as Saddleback Leather, Old Mexico Manufacturing in Leon, Mexico,mso the quality of the leather and construction will be very familiar to anyone who knows Saddleback but the design is something COMPLETELY different and fresh from anything I have ever seen from any maker.

This briefcase is offered in Dark Brown and Saddle Tan and retails for $399, which honestly is a very reasonable price for something of this quality. 100% full grain leather bags with nautical grade nylon thread, same as what is used in ship sales and parachutes, are just going to be expensive compared to canvas or other kinds of bags. If this had a price tag of $599 it wouldn’t have surprised me so I think that this is actually a great value buy at $399.

Now it’s time to jump into all the things that make this flagship piece so different from any other bag I’ve owned or seen from other manufacturers with regards to all of the obvious and subtle design enhancements that are the result of the multiple prototypes and changes made before the final design of this briefcase.

I have already talked about the leather so let’s move onto the hardware.

All of the hardware on the briefcase is antiqued solid brass and the shoulder strap uses trigger, better known as lobster clasps, a favorite of most leather aficionados. The antiqued brass blends in extremely well with the briefcase and doesn’t stand out nearly as much as stainless steel or nickel coated brass, steel or pot metal. Sometimes I like the silver contrast on a darker bag but now that I’ve been using my Saddle Tan bag for a while, the more understated yet high class look of this hardware choice has become my favorite leather/hardware combo on any bag I own.

In my humble opinion, this choice looks amazing on both leather colors and I have seen both in person. Copper rivets are used at the high stress points such as the handle and where the shoulder strap D-ring attaches to the bag. The other rivets are the same antiqued brass as the D-rings and complete the beautifully integrated look of the leather and metal.

One thing to mention is that in order to keep the very clean look to this briefcase, there are not any extra D-rings for attaching extra things like you might see on other briefcases. This is the one thing on the whole bag that I’m a little torn on. The aesthetics of the bag are very well served by not having a lot of extra hardware that may or may not be utilized by the owner. I love that when I set this bag down on a hard surface it doesn’t make any noise like other briefcases do with four D-rings on the bottom, a feature I have yet to personally use.

I do however wish that there were just two additional D-rings on the back of the bag right under the rivets so you can attach a luggage strap or anything else you may want to clip on. This isn’t something that would come close to being a deal breaker for me buying this briefcase as it is designed to have a sleek and simple yet beautiful look. There are still plenty of places to clip on my AirPods or a little bag swag if needed.

My favorite part of this briefcase is the unique way that the panels of leather are sewn together. Rather than pinching the edges of the panels to make a seam that exposes the cross section of the full grain leather, Heritage Leather took the approach of overlapping the panels and sewing them together, producing a wonderfully beautiful, rounded look to the entire bag. When I first received this bag, I couldn’t put it down and kept looking for what it was that was creating the very different and refined appearance while remaining rugged with the rough and dark Saddle Tan color. The overlapping of the panels was it. I encourage you to look at the pictures of the bag and take note of how this method of sewing the panels together reduces the hard angles and softens the overall appearance of the briefcase.

A few final features of the exterior of the Bonhoeffer are the full-sized magazine pocket for easy storage of those items you’d like to access quickly. The pair of straps that are used to close the briefcase are removable just in case you are in a pinch and need a strap for something and completely encircle the briefcase rather than sewing on a short strap to the front to reduce leather use. This is just another sign of a great design and how no corners were cut to make this the great product that it is.

There is a side pocket on the exterior of the gussets and are not quite big enough for the water bottles I carry, they are perfect for my phone, wireless mouse, cables or whatever. You can get a smaller plastic water bottle in the pockets, but the slimmer design of the briefcase only allows for so much volume in the pockets while keeping them flat against the bag when not in use.

The dimensions of the bag are 14” W x 10” H x 4” D and it weighs in at only 4.75 pounds.

The interior of the bag is as well thought out and unique as the exterior. The first thing you notice is the extended gussets that fold over and act as protection of the contents of your bag from rain or someone reaching in your bag. The Bonhoeffer uses pigskin to line the entire interior with the suede side of the hide facing out, making a very soft and pleasant feeling space to fill. The gussets are also lined with pigskin and extends all the way to the top, giving the flaps a lot more structure and keeps them in place, protecting the interior of the bag.

Attached to the interior of the front of the bag is a panel, which has two spacious pigskin pockets, which lay flat when not in use because of the naturally thin yet incredibly strong nature of the material. This acts as a divider to create another slim pocket that is perfect for an iPad, charging cables, or really anything else you have that you want to keep separate.

The great thing about how this was designed is that if not in use, the panel lays flat against the interior of the front panel and takes up essentially no space, making for a very versatile interior layout. Another thing to note is that there are not pockets on the insides of the gussets but with the pigskin pockets and the space created between the interior panel and the front of the bag, I don’t miss these at all and feel like they would just get in the way of my computer or other items I want to carry. I actually applaud Heritage Leather from refraining from adding these because I feel it would be more of a hindrance than a useful feature.

Again, just my $0.02.

At 4” in depth, this bag is not designed for those who carry a substantial amount. It is a more streamlined design that is great for carrying your computer (the bag is 14” wide so be sure your computer can fit should you be using this as an office briefcase) and all of your other necessities or for a weekend outing, concert or anything else.

This was the bag I used nearly all day every day when I was on an 11 day road trip covering over 4,200 miles. I initially used it to carry my work stuff like a computer, files, cables and all that regular stuff. Then I realized early on that I was doing VERY little work on that trip so packed all my work gear in the bottom of a suitcase and the Bonhoeffer became my concert and tourist bag and was on my shoulder essentially any time I wasn’t in a car or hotel.

The wide shoulder strap combined with the relatively lightweight design and versatile size made for an extremely comfortable carry for hours on end at times. There are two logos on the Bonhoeffer. The first is the very simple yet attractive “Heritage Leather” logo taking up a prominent residence on the bottom center of the main flap of the bag. The second is under the flap at the top of front leather panel and is an antique 5 cross design that has been made to look old and keeping with the history behind the name of the bag. That is a story I will leave to you all to research, but the story of Bonhoeffer is quite extraordinary and a very cool name for this extraordinary briefcase.

So, after using this for a month straight on a daily basis and logging many miles on foot with this on my shoulder, I am extremely impressed with this briefcase. The overlapping leather at the seams instead of the pinched or side to side method is my favorite feature of the bag because of the aesthetic it creates. The antique brass hardware, use of the highest quality chrome-tanned leather and a great and proven manufacturer all add up to a new essential bag in my collection.

Recapping some of the things I want people to be aware of if considering this briefcase, I will mention the lack of additional D-rings should you find yourself clipping a lot of things to your bag; no backpack mode and no interior gusset pockets. These are the only things that I have found that some of you may be used to or use often that aren’t present but do not affect my overall love of this original design. I would love it if there were two additional D-rings as I mentioned but I realize that would change the look originally envisioned and I respect that.

I can honestly say that I would HIGHLY recommend this briefcase to those of you in the market for a high quality, well priced, original briefcase design. I think Heritage Leather has created a true work of art that I have been proud to carry and will continue using for many years to come. The one I own isn’t going anywhere! I just love it too much and am now considering another in the Dark Brown because the pull up and overall beauty of that leather has become equal to the Saddle Tan color in my book. If you’re on the fence on color, I don’t think you can go wrong either way.

I know my reviews are verbose but great products are deserving of a deep dive into them and sometimes that takes a bit to get everything across.